Elizabeth Black: Teach young riders hand signals

A young cyclist recently complained to me that there are no standard signals for cyclists to tell drivers what they are intending.

Shocked, I asked, "Didn't you have to learn hand signals when you got your driver's license?"

She answered "No", and I realized that hand signals are as antiquated as me and the rotary phone.

With universal turn and brake lights on cars, drivers don't need to learn hand signals, and many young cyclists don't have a clue about them. So all you old fogeys out there, it is time to plumb your moldering memory banks. Find a young person and teach them hand signals: arm bent and down for stop, arm extended and straight out for left, and arm bent and straight up for right. Start using hand signals yourself when cycling.

If we get a critical mass of old fogeys using hand signals, we can get all those youngsters to do it too. If we all step up to the plate, we can make our streets safer, and reduce the number of tragic "ghost bikes" around town. Thanks! And happy, safe cycling to all

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